Unfinished business

We are marking two anniversaries this week: the modern social housing sector’s 40th birthday (pages 36-41) and the first of the National Housing Federation’s In Business for Neighbourhoods campaign.

The individual milestones are significant by themselves, but the purpose and effectiveness of each is also symbolic of the eras in which they were launched.

The establishment of modern housing associations in the mid-1960s was intended to bring about large-scale social change: removing slums, improving living conditions and the quality of tenants’ lives. The federation’s agenda is more modest: to smarten up how social housing presents itself to the British public.

Of course, the wholesale reform of housing kicked off in the 1960s is far from complete. As the decent homes standard and problems of antisocial behaviour demonstrate, there’s still a lot more to be done. However, few would disagree that affordable housing has improved dramatically since 1964.

While we can’t yet get the cigars out, this anniversary is an opportunity to reflect on what has been achieved. As long-standing tenants and veteran housing staff describe on pages 36-41, improvements in homes have vastly enhanced lives.

With In Business, the federation has not set out to engineer anything like that level of social change. Instead, the federation’s aim has been to improve the “image” of the sector by “rebranding” it. It may, however, be failing to achieve its more limited target.

The NHF’s aim is to improve the image of the sector. It may, however, be failing to achieve its limited target

Correcting the public’s negative impression of the social housing is an entirely valid aim, but as the results of a Housing Today survey suggest this week, the campaign has had little effect on people working in housing.

This is surely a good indication that it has not made much of an impression on the outside world.

The federation is quick to point out that this is only the end of the first year and In Business remains a work in progress. While this is true, it does not disguise the fact that only half the respondents had heard of the scheme and fewer than three in 10 feel it has made a difference.

The sector is still in need of the boost In Business aims to provide. In the light of the achievements of the past 40 years, it’s vital to dismiss public notions of social housing that belong in the 1960s.

In 40 years from now (or even in five) it would be good to reflect on the major shift brought about by In Business for Neighbourhoods; but as things stand, this looks very unlikely indeed.